


Autumn Break

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-04-09
Updated: 2005-04-09
Packaged: 2019-05-15 21:05:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14797940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: It was a relief for him to be able to get her out of the office.





	Autumn Break

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

**Autumn Break**

**by: IDreamofAJ**

**Characters:** CJ, Ron  
**Pairing:** CJ/Ron  
**Categories:** General, Romance   
**Rating:** CHILD  
**Summary:** It was a relief for him to be able to get her out of the office.  
**Author's Note:** This is a response to Flamingochica’s Fall Romance Challenge. I’ve had it on my hard drive for about a month. But, it was missing something. I’ve changed it to fit the new season, and I found what was missing. Sorry for the delay.  
I have taken extreme liberties with nature though. I know that the Cherry Trees lose their leaves in like a week in real life. But, they’re so pretty and I needed them to turn colors and change later – so they do here. So there.  
Also, I can’t remember how far a walk it is between the two places mentioned, but in case it’s really far, let’s just pretend it’s not, okay?  
**For:** Amabel. You are a wonder, darling! And I am forever indebted to you. 

**Autumn Break**

He took her hand in his own, wrapping his fingers around hers. She opened her mouth, presumably to ask where they were going, but he silenced her with a shake of his head. She rolled her eyes and shrugged, but continued to walk at his slow and easy pace. He knew that she was curious, wasn’t all that fond of surprises. He figured that she would only be willing to give him so much time to reveal what he wanted to show her before she started asking questions. He thought he had just enough time to get there.

It was a relief for him to be able to get her out of the office. He was worried about the amount of time she spent there now. He knew adjustments had to be made, and he had been willing to give her as much time as she needed to settle into her new role. She was the President’s Chief of Staff now, after all. But, he had seen what that office had done to Leo McGarry, and he was not about to let that happen to the woman he loved.

CJ looked at the man next to her as they walked. She smiled to herself. It had been a relief to have their relationship become public knowledge two, no it was three now, three years ago. She had been pleased that the press had chased the story for only two days. She knew, somewhere deep down in a place she could pretend didn’t exist, that it was a show of respect for her that the reporters had treated it much like a non-story. She’s fairly certain that if they hadn’t gone public before she would have had a much rougher time of things these last few months. She couldn’t imagine how she would have been able to get through some of those days without him, bringing dinner to her office late into the night, or listening to her question her abilities in his easy, confident way. She knew that she had been neglecting him more than either would like while she found the new rhythm of this office, and she was grateful that she could count on the fact that he wasn’t going anywhere. She gave a small grumble at that. He was going somewhere and he was taking her with him. If only she knew where they were going.

As if Ron could read her mind, her turned toward her and shook his head once more. They were close and the silence was weighing on her he knew. She was always prone to think about things, analyze them, turn them over and over in her mind if she was given too much free time. And this wasn’t supposed to be about thinking or analyzing. This was supposed to be a break from all that. If only for a few minutes.

He stopped walking as they reached a bench. He pulled her down to sit next to him. He squeezed her hand and used his other in a sweeping arc to indicate their surroundings. She was about to laugh at him, he could tell. She was probably ready to tell him she had been here before many times, he would wager. But then, he could see her eyes really seeing what was there. He could feel some of the tension leaving her body as she looked around, turning her head to take it all in.

They were at the Tidal Basin, sitting on one of many benches used mostly by tourists to look at the Jefferson Memorial. The air was crisp and fresh. The large cherry trees stood proudly around them, their limbs heavy with the turning leaves. The breeze off the Potomac kicked up and a riotous cascade of color, brilliant oranges and vibrant reds, raced each other to the ground as the leaves fell from their perches. Again and again the leaves danced through the air.

She sighed and turned to face him. Her eyes wet, though mostly from the wind, she smiled at him. She didn’t have the words to tell him what she was feeling, it would be too much. But, he understood. He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, bringing her head closer to his. He kissed the spot just above her ear and whispered words of love as she watched the play of leaves before them. They stayed like that for almost twenty minutes.

Much as he hated to bring an end to her peaceful reverie, he knew that Margaret’s generosity only extended so far. And he had a hell of a time getting her a break in between the afternoon’s meetings as it was. So he brought his hand back to her side and took her hand again as he pulled her up from the bench. They stood for a moment looking at each other. Her voice was rough, thick with emotion.

“Thank you, Ron. For this.”

“You’re welcome. I love you.”

“I love you too. I know I don’t… I haven’t… .”

“Shh. CJ, it’s fine. It is. C’mon, we had better get you back.”

“Okay.”

She kissed him on the cheek, softly. And turned with him to walk back to the White House.

The End 


End file.
